Pours a deep black but I did notice some slight red hues thru the glass with a thin off white head.The aroma is not very strong on this beer soome slight sweet rasiny smell to it.The taste however is bursting with complexty of flavors,very roasted flavor with some coffee notes,also a lingering raisiny sweetness in the finish.A real nice flavorful porter,a true classic. (371 characters)

Appearance  Black in color with a fine, frothing head that went down slowly and left a little lacing.

Smell  The roasted malts are pleasant and play well with the fruits. Theres some nice grapefruit to be had here along with some dark caramel and smoke.

Taste  The fruits come out big at the taste, making this one lighter than expected. The charcoal smoke and lightly-roasted malts show up as well.

Mouthfeel  Exceptionally sweet and easy on the mouth. This porter is on the heavy side of medium-bodied and felt extremely good going down.

Drinkability  A session porter if there ever was one.

Update  I rated this beer with a 2003 vintage so thought it would be interesting to re-visit it with an 04. Here are my thoughts:

Yes, there is some rather large grapefruit at the nose. I didnt pick up as much sweetness in the taste this time around, but I got some good (albeit light) brown sugar and a twang of rising yeast. Its definitely a solid medium in the body and was a little too clumsy to be called a session brew. Im adjusting the scores a little bit but I think, ultimately, this is a sub-4.0 beer that barely avoids my, would buy again recommendation. (1,211 characters)

I was very excited to finally try this beer based on many of the good reviews I've read. Pours a very dark, nearly black color with just a touch of deep, ruby-red shining through the edges of the glass. Solid tan head mounted on the top of the beer that isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The initial nose is full of coffee and figs, a bit of roast and a bit of sweetness.

The flavor is unique - it's definitely a porter, but it's quite unlike any other porter I've had. The first thing that hits your palette is a huge roasted barley and malt flavor. Just enormous. This is followed up by a nice roasted coffee bean flavor that starts to take over as the beer is warming in your mouth.

About halfway through, the taste shifts from roasted and malty to slightly sweet and bitter. The bittersweet cocoa comes out, along with a huge punch from the "dark" fruits (dates, figs, raisins, it's hard to pinpoint just one). The transition from roasty and toasty to sweet-tangy-bitter is quite nice and complex, a mark that is oftentimes aimed at and missed in a lot of beers. Medium-heavy body with super huge creaminess and a nice dose of carbonation that really brings everything together.

This beer was incredibly hyped up to me before I finally tried it. Did it live up to the hype? It's hard to say. Probably not. Nevertheless, is it a good beer? Absolutely. One of the most complex flavor profiles for a porter I've had that still manages to keep your attention without going too far out-of-bounds. At 5% ABV, this is something you could drink all night. Solid porter. (1,570 characters)

T: It is smoother than you imagine it could possibly be. Bold but very well balanced. For me, the start was more of the caramel, the middle moved through a more burnt/roasted malt into the coffee and the finish was the bitter chocolate and the intense but just perfect hop bitterness. Lovely progression.

M: Full/medium body. Smooth and creamy. Small amount of carbonation to liven things up. Slips down very easily.

D: What's not to like? I love porter and this is a darned good porter. I loved it before I reviewed it, I am loving it as I am reviewing it and I will love it again. Nuff said. (874 characters)

The quintessential modern day Porter, pitch black, with a great head. Faint chocolate and coffee in the aroma. Easy drinking, smooth with a mellow rawness, creamy to the mouth, dry with faint molasses. Slight twang roasted character and some fig. At 5.0 percent alcohol by volume, this makes for a hell of a session beer. But, slap some eggs (sunny side up), pork & beans, black pudding, fried tomato slices, butter simmered button-mushrooms, toast and HP brown sauce together and it makes for a great hangover breakfast. Oh yeah.

Poured very dark,had a plum raisin chocolate cake type of a roma, nice cocoay first taste, slft little bit of a mocha backtaste, seems more carbonated then other porters I've tried, but it seem that the way it is with all brews from this brewery.No heavy bitter alcohol taste that I find unattractive with other porters. Probaly the best porter I've had. (354 characters)

Poured a deep dark brown almost black with a big tan head. Smells of caramel, chocolate and spicy. (maybe clove?) The smell is great. There are caramel and slight spice taste and small sweetness to this brew. The mouthfeel is much ligther than anticipated and quite unlike its heavy scent. This is a very smooth beer and very drinkable. (336 characters)